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Kennon Baldwin, a Hinkley High School senior, works on an online course during night school. ( Photo by Nicholas Garcia ) (Photo from Chalkbeat Colorado article)

Schools are constantly trying new programs, new policies, new structures, new solutions, in an attempt to minimize whatever problem is pressing within their hallways.

Here is one interesting solution Aurora Public Schools is trying- a night school program at Hinkley High. 55 students attend the night program to make up for credits the students have missed. These students have often been forced to miss school during the traditional school day for work or family obligations. I commend APS for trying to find a way for all students to receive a high school education, regardless of schedules (often outside of their control).

What do you think of this program?

Read more about the program in this Chalkbeat Colorado article below:"AURORA — As the oldest sibling at home, Nadine Molina looks after her younger brothers and sisters each morning. It’s a responsibility that put the Hinkley High School senior’s diploma at risk.For the last three years, Molina missed most of her morning classes. Instead of solving equations in algebra class, she was driving her five younger siblings to school and helping her father with his construction business.“I wouldn’t get to school until after lunch,” said Molina, said, who fell so far behind that she was faced a possible a fifth year of high school. “I felt horrible that I could become a super senior.”That changed this spring with the opening of Hinkley High’s night school, which puts a new wrinkle on credit recovery efforts by starting the day when most students are headed home, recognizing that work and family demands put teens like Molina at risk of being left behind.While school officials point to early signs of progress, not all students like the online courses that make up the bulk of instruction, and research is thin on whether credit recovery works.One of 55 students who attend the program to recovering missing high school credits, Molina is now on track to graduate thanks in part to a school day that starts at 2:30 p.m.The program, which launched Jan. 19, is the first of its kind for Aurora Public Schools and is one school’s effort to boost the district’s dismal graduation rate. At Hinkley High School only six out of every 10 students graduate on time. The state’s average graduation rate is 77 percent.While Hinkley and many of the district’s other high schools offer credit recovery programs during the day, this is the first time an Aurora high school has created a program outside the regular school day.Credit recovery programs for high school students are prolific in many of Colorado’s school districts and across the nation. A 2011 National Center for Education Statistics report found 88 percent of school districts across the nation offered a credit recovery program. In Colorado, Denver and Jeffco public schools are among the few school districts that offer night school programs."